Brisbane’s best performing suburbs of 2017 revealed

Brisbane’s top performing suburbs for 2017 have been revealed, with Teneriffe, one of the city’s classic rags to riches success stories, taking out the number one spot.

While Domain Group data showed house prices in the Queensland capital grew by a modest 3.6 per cent over the past 12 months, more than a dozen exceptional suburbs had double-digit growth, achieving record prices and unprecedented demand all year long.

Already firmly cemented as Brisbane’s most expensive suburb after becoming the first to break the $2 million median, data showed Teneriffe’s median price skyrocketed by 41 per cent up to $2,685,000 in 2017.

Auchenflower dominates in 2017: Houses like 70 Payne Street have been popular with buyers this year. Source: Domain

The leafy inner city village of Auchenflower increased by a staggering 30.3 per cent to a new median of $1.14 million over the past year, a reflection of the prestige housing stock, sought-after schools and tight-knit community, local agent Glynis Austin said.

“I think people see Auchenflower as an underdog — it’s so often overlooked for Paddington and other suburbs around it, and it’s rarely spoken about — but it’s quietly been outstripping them all this year,” she said.

“I’m not at all surprised by this as we’ve watched it unfold, watched the median increase by more than $200,000.”

The Seven Hills secret is out: Darcy Lord of Place Bulimba just sold 58 Quirinal Crescent, Seven Hills. Source: Domain

Ms Austin said buyers are drawn to the area for its comparatively large blocks and diversity in housing.

“The landscape of Auchenflower has changed in more recent years. Whereas it was once all little cottages, now it’s mainly beautifully renovated character houses and luxurious contemporary new builds,” she said.

Fig Tree Pocket’s median house price increased by an impressive 26.6 per cent over the past 12 months to $1.22 million, which local agents put down to Legacy Way, the 4.6 kilometre-long tunnel which links the Western Freeway at Toowong and the Inner City Bypass at Kelvin Grove.

The Fig Tree Pocket property belonging to Brisbane richlister Bevan Slattery sold for $6 million. It was marketed by Jason Adcock of Adcock Prestige. Source: Domain

Jason Adcock of Adcock Prestige, who lives and works in Fig Tree Pocket, sold the most expensive house this year in the suburb, 12 Aminga Street, for $6 million. He said Fig Tree Pocket still offered exceptional value compared to its neighbour Indooroopilly and that the decrease in commute time thanks to the tunnel had increased its appeal for many buyers.

“My daughter works in the Valley and she can get there, from our house, in 17 minutes. That’s amazing,” he said.

“What I’m finding is a lot of buyers who want to buy in Indooroopilly are looking at $2 million houses and then realising they can get the same place only minutes away in Fig Tree Pocket for $1.2 million.”

“It’s a really unique suburb is a beautiful setting so close to the city. We just sold a riverfront home there in less than two weeks,” she said.

The third-highest performing suburb this year was St Lucia, in Brisbane’s inner west. Home to the University of Queensland and the Ironside State School, St Lucia’s median house price has increased by a huge 25.9 per cent over the past 12 months to $1.25 million.

“The appeal of Ironside State School and UQ cannot be understated,” Ms Fraser said. “St Lucia has long been established as one of Brisbane’s most desirable suburbs and that shows no sign of slowing down — its proximity to the city, university and schools means it will always command premium prices.”

Seven Hills is up by 23.4 per cent and its neighbour Morningside is up by 17.4 per cent. Darcy Lord of Place Estate Agents Bulimba said both suburbs had flown under the radar for a long time, particularly Seven Hills.

“If you go back five years ago, people had never heard of Seven Hills. It’s a very small suburb. I couldn’t sell a house there,” he said.

“The secret is well and truly out and this year it’s been in such high demand. And it’s not hard to see why. It’s got everything that everyone wants: A lot of privacy, very little units and quiet, leafy streets.

Brisbane’s ultimate blue chip suburb, Ascot, also made the top 10, having increased by 17.4 per cent over the past year.

Dwight Ferguson of Ray White Ascot said it was a suburb that never went out of style, with generations of families revering its tight community links and gorgeous character estates on generous block of land.

“Ascot has always been up there but I think it has a lot more growth still in it. People are now starting to come back to the suburb, recognising it for the quality that it is, rather than the condensed markets closer to the city.

“Certainly the demand this year in Ascot has been huge — in eight days I personally did over $11 million worth of transactions in only four sales.They all sold under the hammer and they were all at the Ascot 4007 address.”

In Corinda, in Brisbane’s western suburbs, the median house price has gone up by 17 per cent the past year. Cameron Crouch of Ray White Sherwood said a land subdivision by the developer Metro was largely responsible for the increase in price growth.

“There were 32 allotments and they were extremely popular and very well marketed. Corinda got a lot of attention and it was after that land release that a lot of people started to take notice,” he said.

“It had a flow-on effect with prices for existing houses. Even speaking to locals, they believe the land subdivision is what has driven prices up in the area, by people who noticed it when the land was advertised and have subsequently missed out but bought property there anyway.

“Corinda had been a bit of a well-kept secret but 2017 certainly saw that end.”

Top 10 performing suburbs for 2017 (based on increase in median house price):